Devotional Performances of music by Olivier Messiaen,
with Exhibitions of specially created artworks.
Music, art and theology
On Sunday 14th December 2025, Great St Mary's presented our first Devotional Performance and Artwork Exhibition as part of our public theology programme.
Alexander Berry (Director of Music) performed Messiaen's magnificent Christmas sequence for solo organ, 'La Nativité du Seigneur', accompanied by specially created artworks by Ally Barrett (Associate Vicar), to an audience of around 150 people, followed by refreshments and an opportunity to reflect further and talk to one another (and to Ally and Alex) about the music, art, and theology.
Download the programme which includes images of all the paintings. If you would like to enquire about buying prints please email allyb@gsm.cam.ac.uk.
The next event in this series will be on 14th May (the Feast of the Ascension).
It will feature a devotional performance of Messiaen's four-movement organ work, 'L'Ascension', at 7.15pm, following Choral Evensong, together with newly created abstract artworks on display throughout the day and for a few days following.
About the Project & event
Messiaen’s music springs from his profound faith. We called this a devotional performance and exhibition because, while it is not a church service in the usual sense, it is offered as an opportunity to be nourished and stimulated spiritually as well as aesthetically. We also hoped that in the midst of a very busy period for many people, this time would be an opportunity to slow down, to focus on one thing rather than many, and to enter into Messiaen’s ‘theological time’ in order to glimpse something of the eternal, as part of our preparation for the great Feast of the Nativity.
Read more in this Church Times article.
.
Olivier Messiaen
Composed in 1935 when Olivier Messiaen was just 27, La Nativité du Seigneur (The Birth of the Lord) is one of the most important organ works of the 20th century. It marks the beginning of Messiaen’s mature style, combining rich harmonic language, rhythmic complexity, and a deeply personal expression of Christian faith. The work consists of nine meditations, each exploring a different aspect of the story of God becoming human, with accompanying Bible verses provided by the composer. Rather than narrating the birth of Christ in a literal way, Messiaen uses these meditations to offer a series of theological reflections on the Incarnation, using a musical language that draws on modes of his own invention, non-Western rhythms, and birdsong.
About the artwork
This is not the first pairing of Messiaen’s great Christmas sequence with works of art. Messiaen’s synaesthesia invites the visualisation of his music, although as an early work, La Nativité predates the full exploration and codification of his sensory experience. The artworks have been created drawing inspiration from Messiaen’s synaesthetic mapping of colours onto his ‘modes of limited transposition’, and on Ally’s (much milder and less comprehensive) synaesthesia. While the art works are, inevitably, colour-based and visual, all also have an element of texture; anyone with a visual impairment attending the exhibition and performance is welcome to gently touch the paintings and follow their contours and textures. The paintings are acrylic and mixed media on canvas. The underlying ‘fleshy’ texture, created using kitchen towel soaked in pva glue, is intentionally domestic, contrasting with the gold leaf and metallic thread. One painting also uses ground up charred wood from the Easter Fire. All the paintings attempt, in their own way, to convey some of the theological themes explored in the music: the relationship between time and eternity, humanity and divinity, the tiny and the infinite.
What to expect at a Messiaen Devotional Performance & Exhibition
The music: if you're not familiar with Messiaen's music, you may want to listen to some in advance, to get a sense of the sound-world that Messiaen creates. The music is challenging and moving in equal measures. We encourage you to listen with an open mind and heart; if the music still feels like a mystery, that doesn't mean you're listening wrong - Messiaen is writing about holy mysteries.
The art: although Messiaen's synaesthesia was focused particularly on colour, the paintings also use texture, so that visitors to the exhibition who are visually impaired can touch them and get a sense of the contours and shapes and textures.
Conversation & engagement: we hope that people will enjoy refreshments either before or after the performance, to look at the art, and to talk to one another about what they have seen and heard., There will also be post cards available for you to write any reflections you have on the experience, and also to let us know if you would like to be kept in touch about the availability of prints of the artwork, or about the music programme at Great St Mary's.
Donations: admission is free; we warmly welcome donations at events (in cash or by card) to support the work of the music programme at Great St Mary's. To enquire about how to make a regular donation to support the music progarmme, email music@gsm.cam.ac.uk
